The Other Side of the Couch - Color Edition
A personal therapy journal for psychologists and therapists in training
You know the theory. You know what resistance is and how transference works. None of that helps when you are the one in the client's chair. This journal is built around a single problem: professional knowledge gets in the way of being a client.
Each session gets four pages: two for notes from the time between sessions, one to fill in before the session and one after. Every six sessions there is a review. You number the sessions yourself, there are no dates and no field is mandatory.
Color Edition: the same interior with painted page edges and coloured section bands.
- Author
- Wren Marlow
- Language
- English / Polish
Other editions
What is inside
- How to use this journal (p. 4) and "A contract with myself" (p. 6) - why I am here: the official version and the real one; how I will know this therapy is working.
- Safety (p. 9) - what I need from my therapist to speak openly; what makes it hard to say things directly.
- Thread map (p. 12) - topics that keep coming back in session, with the session number each time they return; after a few sessions you can see which threads are alive, which have gone quiet and where to start.
- 24 sessions, 4 pages each (from p. 17) - "Between sessions: how it felt" (what was good, what was hard, feelings that keep coming back, what to bring to the next session), "Before the session" (what I notice in my body, what I am bringing, what I feel like skipping, whether I will say it today, tension and energy scales) and "After the session" (what stayed, a sentence to remember, what my inner supervisor wanted to say, what this session teaches me about my own practice).
- Every 6 sessions: "Body and emotions" with a body map on a neutral figure (pp. 40-41) and a review - what has shifted, what is not moving, what I want to renegotiate with my therapist (pp. 42-43).
- At the back: a glossary of easily confused feelings, a protocol for moments when nothing can be named, ready sentences for when therapy stalls, and an hours log of personal therapy for training requirements.
Pages from the interior
Who it is for
Psychologists, psychotherapists and trainees of any modality, and psychotherapy schools that want to give participants a tool for personal work.
Edition details
- Pages
- 144
- Format
- 6 x 9 in (15.24 x 22.86 cm), softcover
- Scope
- 24 sessions, undated
- Editions
- English edition (Amazon.com, .co.uk, .de, .fr, .es) and a Polish edition "Po drugiej stronie fotela" (Amazon.pl)
- Publisher
- Parkova
Questions and answers
Who is this journal for?
Psychologists, psychotherapists and trainees who are in personal therapy themselves - whatever the modality. It also works as a gift for graduation or the start of training.
Does it replace supervision or therapy?
No. It is a journal for the client's chair: it helps you use therapy and supervision, it does not replace them.
How many sessions does it cover?
24 sessions, four pages each, plus a review every six sessions. Undated, so you start whenever you like.
Is there a Polish edition?
Yes: "Po drugiej stronie fotela" on Amazon.pl, in a classic and a colour edition. The English edition "The Other Side of the Couch" is on the other Amazon marketplaces.
What is the difference between the Classic and Color editions?
The interior is the same (144 pages). Classic has black-and-white pages with grey section bands and a lower price; the Color edition has painted page edges and coloured section bands.